Avert Fate
by Earth.2.Brady
Summary: Avert Fate is a story of a young man named Nikolai, who got caught up in the wrong situation at the wrong time, and now must escape the red line.
1. Chapter 1

Most of the oil lamps in Zao, a small metro station under the red line, were out. The market was completly empty. Gaurds walked through, several times through out the night.

The market, usually a bustling, crowded area, was dark and eerie at night. The stations government set a curfew, and any civilian caught out after curfew usually disappeared. The only people exempted were government officials, military officials, and gaurds. It became very rare for any one to stay out during curfew. Most people were perfectly fine with it.

Since no one in the station knew whether or not it was night, the government set a large soviet era clock in the market place. Curfew took place from 12am to 7am.

The time was around 2am when Nikolai was awoken. At first, he was confused as to what woke him. Then he heard it. A gun shot pierced the eerie silence. Nikolai jumped out of bed and grabbed his revolver from the old wooden night stand near by. He tip toed to his door and opened it slowly. Looking out into the dark corridor, he saw nothing but black. Then, out of the darkness, he heard a quiet call for help.

Nikolai turned and grabbed his oil lamp off his desk, and ran into the dark hallway. 30 feet from his door, lay the people's commissar, Lev Vadimovich. Nikolai bent down, inspecting the shot wound.

"Sir?" Nikolai whispered. He looked intently at the wounded man. His mouth moved slightly, but an inaudible whisper was all that came out. The commissar's body went limp. He was dead.

Nikolai was pulled from his thoughts as he heard footsteps. Nikolai looked up, and saw a lone gaurd come around the corner.

"You! What have you done!" The officer shouted as he pulled his revolver out of his holster and pointed it at Nikolai. However, Nikolai was faster. Before he even thought, Nikolai aimed and fired. The officer fell backwards and hit the floor with a thud.

Nikolai turned and ran to his room. Swinging the door open, he ran to his desk and pocketed all his military grade ammo. He then grabbed his pre world war 3 ak-47 his father passed down to him. Finally, he grabbed his holster and holstered his revolver. That's when it hit him.

"I'm a murdered," he groaned. "I'm never going to be able to come back. If I leave, they'll think I am the killed of the commissar. I'm already guilty of shooting an officer, and no one will bat an eye when they kill me on the off chance that I did kill the commissar!"

He quickly decided that there was no way he could stay in Zao. He had heard about people going out into the metro tunnels. Maybe he could escape the red line. Maybe he could live...


	2. Avert Fate Chapter 2: Now Exiting

Getting out would be the biggest problem for Nikolai.

The soldiers and the police would be out looking for him. Several gun shots were sure to bring more than just one lone officer. Time was running out, and Nikolai was determined to get out into the tunnels, At least there, he wouldn't have to fear soldiers.

Walking out into the corridor again, Nikolai noticed the officer was gone, and no blood was pooled in the spot he had laid. This led Nikolai to believe that the officer had a bullet proof vest on, and only had the air knocked out of him.

This means they'd be looking for Nikolai, which only confirmed the fact that he had to leave Zoa. Fast.

Nikolai knew that there was an open entrance to the tunnels just down the corridor, but that tunnel was connected to the market, and soldiers could very well be there. It was a risk that Nikolai had to take.

Nikolai neared the entrance, and heard voices. Looking out from the shadows, 3 soldiers stood around a fire, talking. There was no sneaking past them. Nikolai, at last, decided to hid in the shadows and wait. They would leave soon, to search for him.

The only thing that worried Nikolai was the fact that they could easily see him, if they turned their lamps on, or pointed their flash lights at him. That was the risk he had to take.

He didn't have to wait for long. He sat back and waited for about five minutes before four guards rushed up to the soldiers, whispering excitedly. The soldiers grabbed their rifles and turned on their helmet lights. Nikolai knew that all he could do now was sit back and pray.

The soldiers, with their assault rifles at the ready, and their helmet lights on ran right by Nikolai, down the corridor. A security guard was the last to pass by. Once passed, Nikolai jumped up and walked passed the campfire, sticking to the walls for shadows. Nikolai jumped onto the tracks, and looked into the dark tunnel. He'd definatly need a flash light or some form of light.

Nikolai looked around the campfire, and saw a small crate. Near the crate, there was a helmet with a light, some home made ammunition, and a map.

The map was simply of Zao, which wasn't much use to Nikolai, but the other two items were. He grabbed them, and turned back to the tunnel. He put the helmet on, and turned the light on. He took one last glance over his shoulder, taking his last glipse of Zao.

"No point in getting emotional, im definatly not welcome here any more." Nikolai mumbled. With that, he turned to the tunnels and started walking.


End file.
